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Friday, 21 September 2012

Pressure Mounts for the Arrest of Dutch Justice Ministry Secretary

Global Strategic Communications Group

The following is being released by Global Strategic Communications Group:

Following on the heels of U.S. Representatives Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) investigating allegations of child rape by Dutch Justice Ministry Secretary-General Joris Demmink, further calls for answers on Demmink's actions have come from a leading human rights organization and a Member of the U.S. House Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. These latest calls for investigations into complaints against Demmink along with the previous Congressional letter to European Union Chairman of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue Steering Committee voicing concerns that Mr. Demmink has used "his position to obstruct efforts to file complaints against him, and used investigations as a way to deter his accusers" could complicate coalition talks following Holland's recent parliamentary election.

Writing in The Washington Times, Kwame Fosu, policy director for the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, has called on the U.S. Congress to further investigate claims against Demmink. "Since 1998 Joris Demmink has been the subject of thwarted investigations that have failed to proceed to prosecution for sexual exploitation and sex tourism. It is not a coincidence that the investigations for sex trafficking and sex abuse by Demmink are abruptly ended, as these investigations are under the jurisdiction of the perpetrator himself, in his capacity as the Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Justice," writes Fosu. "The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and members of the coalition against the actions of Secretary General Demmink urge Members of Congress to hold oversight hearings. We ask members of Congress both Democrat and Republican to put aside partisanship to urge both Turkey and the Netherlands to listen to their own law enforcement officers and seek justice for the victims. Furthermore we ask that the House of Representatives pass a resolution barring Mr. Demmink from entering the U.S. until a fair and transparent investigation and trial is conducted into his actions toward children."

In his commentary, Fosu references separate alleged child rape attacks perpetrated by Joris Demmink in both the Netherlands and Turkey. Peter Hannaford, a long-time senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan, also cited a report in a June 2012 American Spectator commentary, from Adele van der Plas, Dutch attorney for two boys, then 12 and 16 years old, who claim that in Turkey in the 1990s Demmink sexually assaulted them, among "numerous" other young victims: "She says that one victim was 12 at the time he was brought by a police officer to Demmink's chambers, where he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Demmink. Another boy was 14 at the time he was brought to Demmink and assaulted. Recently, a third child victim, a Turkish boy, has come forward."

In his letter to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, just two days following Holland's parliamentary election which will require lengthy coalition talks to form a new Dutch government, U.S. Representative Ted Poe raises questions about an alleged agreement made between Demmink and the Turkish government in the mid-1990's to cover up child sex abuse complaints against Demmink. "Investigations into this matter reportedly have found that Turkish police officers provided Mr. Demmink with minor boys during his visits to Turkey in the 1990s. According to law enforcement officers in Turkey and the Netherlands, Mr. Demmink used the power of his position to obstruct efforts to file complaints against him and used investigations as a way to deter his accusers," wrote Representative Poe in the letter to the Turkish Prime Minister. "These allegations of crimes committed in Turkey and the Netherlands are serious and deeply concerning. Two Turkish citizens have brought suit against Demmink for allegedly sexually assaulting them in the 1990s in Turkey when they were 14 and 12 years old, and, the suit claims, "numerous" other Turkish boys were victimized. A third alleged victim has also since come forward."

Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a co-founder of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus and a member of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans.

Kwame Fosu is the Policy Director for the Rebecca Project for Human Rights in Washington, D.C.

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